A new scandal flares up around the film "Matilda". This time it is not about the feelings of believers, but about big money. What do the heroes of this epic say?
The reason for the new scandal around the not yet released film by Alexei Uchitel "Matilda" was an interview with Vladislav Moskalev, the former producer of the film and former partner of the artist Vladimir Vinokur. This story contains a large number of unexpected details about the financing of the film, about the purchase of the theater building and gratitude in the form of an elite watch.
The noise began after the publication Insider published an interview with Vladislav Moskalev. He said that he was once one of the initiators of the creation of the film "Matilda", along with Vladimir Vinokur, who helped raise money. The most exciting scene: Moskalev and Vinokur in the office of President Vladimir Kozhin, at that time, asking for money for a film. Kozhin picks up the phone, calls Gazprombank and gives the command: "Ten". After that, the bank transfers $10 million to the cinema. And Andrey Akimov, president of Gazprombank, allegedly gives the same amount personally. In gratitude, the producers give Kozhin a watch worth from 250 to 400 thousand dollars. Moskalev gave this interview via Skype from Canada, moreover, the year before last. Journalist Anastasia Kirilenko decided to publish the material just now, against the backdrop of a big scandal with Matilda.
Anastasia Kirilenko journalist “He says: “But let me tell you a story about the Kremlin common fund and how Kozhin was carried a watch there, and everything else.” I say: "Well, let's go." And we recorded it back in 2015. Then it was not published. "Matilda" - this movie was not known at all, it was not very clear what he was talking about. And now I thought it was interesting. Since he is in Interpol, entry into Russia is prohibited, that is, of course, it looks like such a revenge of an offended former partner.”
According to Moskalev, at one point Vinokur asked his partner for the allocated money for personal purposes. He once bought a building from Moscow for his parody theater at a reduced price of $1.8 million. To do this, he took a personal loan from VTB. Probably, we are talking about the building of the former Pravda cinema on Lyusinovskaya Street. Vladimir Vinokur said in several interviews that he bought it on credit, and then realized that it was too expensive for him and sold it. Moskalev, on the other hand, claims that Vinokur took the money, paid off the loan, earned about $8 million from the sale, and then accused him of stealing these funds. Now Moskalev is on the international wanted list for embezzlement of about $4 million, in the media you can even find a decision to initiate a criminal case. It states that citizen Moskalev withdrew money from the Vinokur fund. We contacted Mikhail Sheinin, deputy director of this fund, who, by the way, according to Moskalev, helped to choose watches for Kozhin.
Mikhail Sheinin Deputy Director of the Vinokur Foundation“I never saw him, I only heard. It seems to me that he took loans from banks and did not repay them. He also took on his wife, the former ballerina of the Bolshoi Theater, Svetlana Lunkina. She also took out a loan. And ran away with her. And is wanted: both he and she. About the clock. I don't know. The Brothers Grimm wrote to him or Andersen about it. But one of them. I've definitely never done that."
In general, there is a lot of ballet in this story. Let's start with the fact that the main character of the film "Matilda" is a ballerina. The daughter of Vladimir Vinokur Anastasia is a soloist of the Bolshoi Theater. The wife of Vladislav Moskalev, Svetlana Lunkina, is a former prima of the Bolshoi. He himself was the producer of the Kremlin Gala project - these are big concerts with the participation of world ballet stars. In addition, the partners' quarrel took place against the backdrop of a tragic scandal with choreographer Sergei Filin, who had acid poured over his face four years ago. And then Vinokur told the RSN that Moskalev was rude and threatened the artistic director of the Bolshoi Theater. We contacted Sergey Filin. He first agreed to answer our questions, then postponed the interview several times, and then stopped answering our calls. Other famous ballet dancers also declined to comment. Either without explaining the reasons, or saying that they are not familiar with Moskalev. Valeria Uralskaya, editor-in-chief of the Ballet magazine, did not immediately remember him either:
What, again, is his last name?
— Moskalev.
- In my opinion, he once held some big Gala.
"But you don't know him?"
No, I don't even know who he is.
Another hero of this story is the director of the film "Matilda" Alexei Uchitel. According to Moskalev, the director personally received an advance payment of a million dollars in cash from the money of Gazprombank, and then allegedly dragged out the shooting. But when they decided to remove him from the project, he turned to the conductor Valery Gergiev for help. Alexey Uchitel in an interview with Business FM said that by the time he took up Matilda, Moskalev had already left the project.
Alexey Uchitel director “The gentleman you mention, Moskalev, he really was from the very beginning, although then there was a completely different project, a different scenario, and I didn’t plan what they would do, and I have nothing to do with it. There is funding, there is cinema, and everything is transparent, and there can be no cavils against us from any side, especially from Mr. Moskalev, who has nothing to do with this Matilda project.
Gazprombank was unable to promptly comment on the financing of Matilda. Contact with the former manager of the president, and now the assistant to the head of state, Vladimir Kozhin failed. In this story, perhaps, there is only one unequivocal fact: the film was shot. And it will probably hit the screens in the fall. Starring Polish actress Michalina Olshanska. Although, judging by another interview of Moskalev to Izvestia in 2012, the daughter of Vladimir Vinokur and the wife of Vladislav Moskalev argued for this role. So you should look not only for money, but also for a woman.
One of the co-authors and former producers of the film "Matilda" Vladislav Moskalev gave an interview to the publication. According to him, the money for the filming was taken from the Gazprombank offshore and withdrawn through the account of the People's Artist of the Russian Federation Vladimir Vinokur. According to the producer, assistance in financing the film was provided in exchange for an expensive gift to the head of the affairs of the President of the Russian Federation.
Updated: The director of "Matilda" Alexei Uchitel "nonsense" allegations about the corrupt nature of the filming financing scheme.
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Shot from the film "Matilda"
In an interview with The Insider, Vladislav Moskalev called himself the author of the title of the film "Matilda". According to him, before starting work on the painting in 2010, the project was registered with the Art Mir company, owned by the daughter of his colleague Oleg Fraev. On behalf of this company, Moskalev allegedly submitted documents to the Cinema Fund for partial funding from the budget.
According to the producer, at the same time he was involved in the Kremlin Gala project, which arranges gala concerts in the Grand Kremlin Palace. According to Moskalev, the name of the project was helped by his friend, and now the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova. In a conversation with TJ, Zakharova confirmed that she was familiar with Moskalev and his wife, but stressed that she was not involved in the promotion of Matilda.
Vinokur and Kozhin
After Fraev's death and the liquidation of Art Mir in June 2011, both of Moskalev's projects, Matilda and Kremlin Gala, "hung in the air." Then the producer offered to transfer projects under the jurisdiction of the "Vladimir Vinokur Foundation in support of culture and art."
Vinokur owned this fund alone, signing all the documents. I was not put on the staff of the fund, I did not have the right to sign. But I had no choice - I would not have pulled out this project alone.
According to Moskalev, Vinokur decided to look for money for Matilda from his friend Vladimir Kozhin, who from 2000 to 2014 served as the head of the presidential affairs of the Russian Federation. As the co-author of the picture noted, Kozhin's office is located across the street from the Vinokur Theater. The Insider confirmed this information.
According to Moskalev, Kozhin personally made the decision to transfer funds from Gazprombank, since it was he who was in charge of this offshore.
We were in his office together. By the way, Kozhin's office is across the street from the Vinokur Theatre. Kozhin dialed a number in front of my eyes and gave the command "ten". After that, Gazprombank drove money to Cyprus, and offshore Tradescan Consultants Ltd (100% subsidiary of Gazprombank in Cyprus), in turn, transferred $10 million to the cinema. Another 10 million dollars, as far as I understand, was personally transferred by Andrey Akimov, president of Gazprombank, to the account of the Vinokur fund.
The Insider found the balance sheet of Gazprombank, which still lists Tradescan Consultants Limited offshore. The publication also received a $10 million loan contract from the Vinokur Foundation with a Cypriot company. This money was received into the account of the organization in November 2011.
Moskalev called the account of the Vinokur fund "the Kremlin's liquid common fund" and "irrecoverable money." At the same time, according to the documents, when transferred to offshore, it looked like a loan.
According to Moskalev's story, Vinokur felt it necessary to thank Kozhin for his assistance and presented him with a wrist watch.
As soon as we received the money, Vinokur says: “According to our rules, we must thank. Money from Kozhin is unmeasured, that he should carry money!
The former director of Vinokur, Mikhail Sheinin, sends Vinokur a photo of several watches as a gift to Kozhin. Vinokur shows me on his phone, on the big screen: “What do you think, what are they?” The price of watches is from 250 to 400 thousand dollars.
I tell him: “You know him a long time ago, choose for yourself.” As a result, they bought the most expensive watch, for the same money for the project about Kshesinskaya. In front of my eyes, he carried them to Kozhin across the road. This is probably his 10th or 20th watch.
As the producer of the film noted, Vinokur used part of the funds from the received $ 10 million for his own personal purposes, for example, to pay off a bank loan. He later allegedly accused Moskalev of stealing these funds and other unnamed loans.
Teacher
Moskalev said that during the filming of "Matilda" the reasonable limits of the "traditional practice of laundering money for movies" were exceeded. According to him, 4 million dollars of "offshore" money was given as an advance to the film's director Alexei Uchitel. Three million of them were transferred to the accounts of the Rock Films studio, and another 1 million - the director took away from the office in a bag.
However, instead of starting to shoot, he rejected one scenario after another and filmed a project with Channel One. As a result, the Vladimir Vinokur Foundation made a pre-trial claim against Alexei Uchitel. We wanted to remove the Teacher from the project, both Kozhin and Vinokur agreed.
Vinokur has access to Putin himself, it would seem, much higher, there will be no problems. But I did not take into account that the Teacher, it turns out, at that moment was making a movie about [conductor and artistic director of the Mariinsky Theater Valeria] Gergiev and became close to him. And Gergiev is closer to Putin than even Roldugin.
According to Moskalev, the director of Matilda complained to Gergiev about the producer's intention to transfer the project under the jurisdiction of the "Americans". It is not known which company or film studio is being referred to.
Gergiev called Putin or simply threatened that he would call. Then Kozhin already said: “I take back my words, return the Teacher. The Americans are taking over the project, and you know how much Putin hates the Americans.”
Vinokur immediately took it under his visor, and I was squeezed out of the project.
Moskalev was removed from the project in 2012. On November 1 of the same year, the Ministry of Internal Affairs for Moscow opened a criminal case on the theft of 117 million rubles from the Vinokur fund.
Now Moskalev is in Canada. According to The Insider, in 2013 he was put on the Interpol wanted list for "abuse of authority." Canada to issue him.
Anastasia KirilenkoThe film by Alexei Uchitel "Matilda" about the connection between Nicholas II and the ballerina Kshesinskaya will be released only in October, but it has already become the brightest Russian film premiere of 2017. First, Orthodox activists, led by ex-prosecutor and deputy Natalia Poklonskaya, demanded that the film be banned because of “insulting the feelings of believers,” while Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov urged them to watch the film first. While the public is excited about the issue of coverage of the life of Nicholas II and his entourage, The Insider found out that "Matilda" gives a reason to talk about Vladimir Putin's entourage: as one of the co-authors of this project told the publication Vladislav Moskalev, the film was filmed with money withdrawn from an offshore controlled by Gazprombank in exchange for a bribe to the presidential affairs manager, and the parodist Vladimir Vinokur was a direct participant in these events.
“I came up with the name Matilda for the project,” admits entrepreneur and producer Vladislav Moskalev in a conversation with The Insider. He says that he started working on the film in 2010 with his friend Oleg Fraev. “Initially, the Matilda project (like my previous project “Kremlin Gala”) was registered to the firm of Fraev’s daughter Art Mir. On behalf of this company, I personally submitted documents to the Cinema Fund for partial financing of Matilda from the budget.
At the same time, he developed a second project - "Kremlin Gala" - this is no longer a feature film, but gala concerts with the participation of world ballet stars, which to this day are held annually in the Grand Kremlin Palace. (The theme of the ballet is well known to Moskalev, his wife is the prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Theater Svetlana Lunkina). Moskalev claims that his acquaintance, Maria Zakharova, who now heads the press service of the Foreign Ministry, helped him come up with the name of the project “Kremlin Gala”.
“I lived in two countries and for this reason did not have my own companies in Russia, and everything was based on informal obligations,” Moskalev continues, “but in June 2011 my friend suddenly died of a heart attack, and Art Mir ceased to exist , two of my projects were up in the air. Then I handed them over myself Vladimir Vinokura(with whom I was already a little familiar then), suggesting that he introduce Matilda and the Kremlin Gala under the jurisdiction of his foundation (the former Foundation for the Support of the Parody Theater, now the Vladimir Vinokur Foundation for the Support of Culture and Art). Vinokur owned this fund alone, signing all the documents. I was not included in the staff of the fund, I did not have the right to sign. But I had no choice - I would not have pulled out this project alone.
This is where things got interesting.
“Vinokur undertook to negotiate financing with Vladimir Kozhin(at that time - the manager of the affairs of the President), with whom he has known for fifteen years. We were in his office together. By the way, Kozhin's office is located across the street from the Vinokur Theater<адрес театра Винокура - Славянская площадь, 2/5 с.5, действительно, неподалеку от Управления делами президента - The Insider>. Kozhin dialed a number in front of my eyes and gave the command "ten". After that, Gazprombank drove money to Cyprus, and offshore Tradescan Consultants Ltd (100% subsidiary "Gazprombank" in Cyprus), in turn transferred $ 10 million to the cinema. Another $ 10 million, as far as I understand, he transferred personally Andrey Akimov, president of Gazprombank, to the account of the Vinokur fund.
This is such a liquid common fund of the Kremlin. This is non-refundable money. According to the documents, it was a loan, but according to the additional agreement on debt forgiveness, it turns out that the loan is not required to be repaid - but the Cypriot regulators have not paid attention to this.”
The Insider has at its disposal a $10 million loan contract between the Vladimir Vinokur Foundation and Tradescan Consultants Limited (with an additional debt forgiveness agreement), as well as Gazprombank’s consolidated balance sheet as of January 1, 2012. banking group” among hundreds of other offshores is Tradescan Consultants Limited (this offshore is still open today), it is also in the report for 2016. Moskalev assures that after he left the project, the budget increased to $40 million. These offshore schemes are needed due to the fact that if the bank had simply issued a loan through an office in Moscow, it might have had to be returned, Moskalev explains.
The Insider reviewed the supplementary agreement to the 2011 loan agreement between Tradescan Consultants and the Vladimir Vinokur Foundation. Indeed, it says that the fund's debt is forgiven if by 2014 the fund does not begin to receive a certain amount of profit from the rental of the film "Matilda". Considering that by 2017 the film had not even hit the screens, this condition had come a long time ago.
Kozhin also did not remain in the loser, says Moskalev:
“As soon as we received the money, Vinokur says: “According to our rules, we must thank. Kozhin has a lot of money, that he should carry money! The former director of Vinokur, Mikhail Sheinin, sends Vinokur a photo of several watches as a gift to Kozhin. Vinokur shows me on his phone, on the big screen: “What do you think, what are they?” The price of the watch is from $250 to 400 thousand. I tell him: “You know him a long time ago, choose for yourself.” As a result, they bought the most expensive watch, for the same money for the project about Kshesinskaya. In front of my eyes, he carried them to Kozhin across the road. This is probably his 10th or 20th watch. It was a gift for helping to organize the Matilda project.
He also claims that Vinokur needed this money for personal purposes:
“Even before I met Vinokur, he took (on bail) a personal loan from VTB for $ 1.8 million. The purpose of the loan was to buy a building in the center of Moscow from the Moscow government for the Vladimir Vinokur Parody Theater. Vinokur bought this building for himself personally. Due to the fact that it was bought out for credit money, this building, of course, was pledged to VTB.
As soon as the first big money came for the Matilda project, Vinokur wanted to buy back the collateral from the bank, paying off the loan in full. He told me so: “Slava, I have a personal loan at VTB Bank, I want to repay it with Matilda’s money and release it from bail.” “I will then return this money to the account of the fund,” Vinokur told me. How was he going to return? Very simple. He suddenly changed his mind about making a theater with a permanent stage (he always rented different stages) and decided to sell this building at the market price. He bought it from Moscow at a completely discounted price ($1.8 million), and was going to sell it for $10 million. That was the market price (no less) for this building. In fact, he stole a building in the center of Moscow.
In short, in November 2011, the Vinokur Foundation received the first $10 million for the film Matilda, and already in January 2012 he fully repaid his personal loan from VTB Bank. Money "Matilda". Six months after that, he announced that I stole that $1.8 million! At the same time, other debts were hung on me. ”
In 2012, Moskalev was withdrawn from the project. On November 1, 2012, the Investigation Department of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for Moscow opened a criminal case on the theft of 117 million rubles. from the Vinokur Foundation, however, in relation to an unidentified person. However, in fact, the investigation is underway against Moskalev: in 2013, Russian law enforcement agencies put him on the wanted list through Interpol on charges of “abuse of authority,” but Canada refused to extradite him.
According to Moskalev, "money laundering for cinema is a traditional practice." However, reasonable limits were exceeded on the Kshesinskaya film project.
“Of this money, an advance was also given to Alexei Uchitel - three million for his Rock company and a million dollars in cash. He carried them out of Vinokur's office on Slavyanskaya Square in a blue bag in front of my eyes. I don't know why he needed cash, but of course it's convenient. However, instead of starting to shoot, he rejected one scenario after another and filmed a project with Channel One. As a result, the Vladimir Vinokur Foundation made a pre-trial claim against Alexei Uchitel. We wanted to remove the Teacher from the project, both Kozhin and Vinokur agreed. Vinokur has access to Putin himself, it would seem, much higher, there will be no problems.
But I did not take into account that the Teacher, it turns out, was at that moment making a movie about Gergiev and got close to him. And Gergiev is closer to Putin than even Roldugin. Putin, for example, sent Gergiev to Great Britain to put in a good word before the Queen. Before my eyes, the Minister of Finance Kudrin stood at the reception to Gergiev. Gergiev accepted it around five in the morning, because he likes to work until seven in the morning ... In general, the Teacher complained to Gergiev that I would transfer the project to the Americans.
And without going into details, Gergiev called Putin or simply threatened that he would call. Then Kozhin already said: “I take back my words, return the Teacher. The Americans are taking over the project, and you know how much Putin hates the Americans.” Vinokur immediately took it under his visor, and I was squeezed out of the project.
When asked why Kozhin manages Gazprombank's money so easily, Moskalev answers as follows:
“The decision to transfer money was made by Kozhin personally. And he personally gave the command for the transfer, since it was he who disposed of this offshore. How much money can be on this offshore if Kozhin easily gives a command to transfer $20 million, knowing full well that this money may never return? I think, at least $2-3 billion. It is my deep conviction that this Cyprus offshore is one of the many offshores that contain the money of Putin and his closest associates (including Kozhin), and there are hundreds of them in total. Each of Putin's closest friends (I think there are about 20 of them, and Roldugin is the smallest frontman among them) has his own quota in the common fund, which they can dispose of at their discretion.
I am sure that all Gazprombank's offshore companies are part of the common fund, and Gazprombank's money is the main, although not the only part of the common fund.
Two more The Insider interlocutors, who were previously involved in business relations with Vladimir Putin's inner circle, confirmed that this scheme for controlling general assets is generally correct, although they avoided estimating the total amount of funds in such offshores.
The Insider also reached out to all those involved in this story with a request for comment. Vladimir Vinokur, hearing the name of Moskalev, replied: “You need to call the law enforcement agencies. This person is wanted by Interpol, so you don’t even have to call me, ”and hung up the call. Kozhin's office declined to comment. The ex-prosecutor and deputy Poklonskaya, for her part, requested paper copies of documents, including those with a “non-repayable” loan (the editors complied with her request and handed over the documents, what the deputy is going to do with them is still unknown). Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, in turn, confirmed that she knew Vladislav Moskalev, specifying that ex-Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev introduced them in New York. She, however, did not take sides in the conflict, noting that she was very sorry that the good people involved in the Matilda project quarreled. Conductor Valery Gergiev could not be contacted at the time of The Insider's publication.
Kozhin and Vinokur financed "Matilda" from the black cash desk of "Gazprombank", and the director Alexei Uchitel carried the criminal cache of Putin's friends with bags.
Actions against the release of the film "Matilda" have gained in recent months such a scale that they began to resemble hidden advertising. In unison, monarchists and Orthodox activists protest the film, the Prosecutor General's Office checks the appeal of the deputy Natalia Poklonskaya for the presence in the film of episodes that offend religious feelings. Although, in reality, Yuri Chaika should have checked something else, namely, the sources of financing for Matilda. The Prosecutor General should probably be interested in the fact that the film was made with money withdrawn from an offshore controlled by Gazprombank in exchange for a bribe to the presidential affairs manager with the direct participation of Vladimir Vinokur, a near-Kremlin parodist.
Kozhin, Akimov and cash
“I came up with the name Matilda for the project,” admits entrepreneur and producer Vladislav Moskalev. He says that he started working on the film in 2010 with his friend Oleg Fraev. “Initially, the Matilda project was registered to the firm of Fraev’s daughter Art Mir [the founder is Tatyana Grigoryevna Fraeva]. On behalf of this company, I personally submitted documents to the Cinema Fund for partial financing of Matilda from the budget.
At the same time, Moskalev developed a second project - "Kremlin Gala" - this is no longer a feature film, but gala concerts with the participation of world ballet stars, which to this day are held annually in the Grand Kremlin Palace. (The theme of the ballet is well known to Moskalev, his wife is the prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Theater Svetlana Lunkina). Moskalev claims that his acquaintance Maria Zakharova, who now heads the press service of the Foreign Ministry, helped him come up with the name of the project “Kremlin Gala”.
Vladislav Moskalev and his wife, ballerina Svetlana Lunkina
“I lived in two countries and for this reason did not have my own companies in Russia, and everything was based on informal obligations,” Moskalev continues, “but in June 2011 my friend suddenly died of a heart attack, and Art Mir ceased to exist , two of my projects were up in the air. Then I myself handed them over to Vladimir Vinokur (with whom I already knew a little at that time), suggesting that he bring Matilda and the Kremlin Gala under the jurisdiction of his foundation (the former Foundation for Supporting the Parody Theater, now the Vladimir Vinokur Foundation for Supporting culture and arts). Vinokur owned this fund alone, signing all the documents. I was not included in the staff of the fund, I did not have the right to sign. But I had no choice - I would not have pulled out this project alone.
This is where things got interesting.
“Vinokur undertook to agree on financing with Vladimir Kozhin (at that time the Presidential Affairs Manager), whom he had known for fifteen years. We were in his office together. By the way, Kozhin's office is across the street from the Vinokur Theatre. Kozhin dialed a number in front of my eyes and gave the command "ten". After that, Gazprombank drove money to Cyprus, and offshore Tradescan Consultants Ltd (100% subsidiary of Gazprombank in Cyprus), in turn, transferred $10 million to the cinema. Another $10 million, as I understand it, was personally transferred by Andrey Akimov, president of Gazprombank, to the account of the Vinokur fund.
This is such a liquid common fund of the Kremlin. This is non-refundable money. According to the documents, there was a loan, but under the additional agreement on debt forgiveness, it turns out that the loan is not required to be repaid - but the Cypriot regulators have not paid attention to this.”
Vladimir Kozhin and Vladimir Vinokur
The Insider has at its disposal a $10 million loan contract between the Vladimir Vinokur Foundation and Tradescan Consultants Limited (with an additional "debt forgiveness" agreement), as well as Gazprombank's consolidated balance sheet as of January 1, 2012. Tradescan Consultants Limited is listed among hundreds of other offshore companies in the line “composition of participants in the consolidated banking group” (this offshore is still open today), it is also in the report for 2016. Moskalev assures that after he left the project, the budget increased to $40 million. These offshore schemes are needed due to the fact that if the bank had simply issued a loan through an office in Moscow, it might have had to be returned, Moskalev explains.
In an additional agreement to the loan agreement between Tradescan Consultants and the Vladimir Vinokur Foundation in 2011, indeed, it is said that the fund's debt is forgiven if by 2014 the fund does not begin to receive a certain amount of profit from the rental of the film "Matilda". Considering that by 2017 the film had not yet hit the theaters, this condition had come a long time ago.
The Kremlin supply manager took bribes for hours
Kozhin also did not remain in the loser, says Moskalev: “As soon as we received the money, Vinokur said: “According to our rules, we must thank. Kozhin has a lot of money, that he should carry money! The former director of Vinokur, Mikhail Sheinin, sends Vinokur a photo of several watches as a gift to Kozhin. Vinokur shows me on his phone, on the big screen: “What do you think, what are they?” The price of the watch is from $250 to 400 thousand. I tell him: “You know him a long time ago, choose for yourself.” As a result, they bought the most expensive watch, for the same money for the project about Kshesinskaya. In front of my eyes, he carried them to Kozhin across the road. This is probably his 10th or 20th watch. It was a gift for helping to organize the Matilda project.
Moskalev also claims that Vinokur needed this money for personal purposes:
“Even before I met Vinokur, he took (on bail) a personal loan for $ 1.8 million. The purpose of the loan was to buy a building in the center of Moscow from the Moscow government for the Vladimir Vinokur Parody Theater. Vinokur bought this building for himself personally. For the reason that it was bought out for credit money, this building, of course, was pledged.
As soon as the first big money came for the Matilda project, Vinokur wanted to buy back the collateral from the bank, paying off the loan in full. He told me so: “Slava, I have a personal loan, I want to repay it with Matilda’s money and release it from bail.” “I will then return this money to the fund’s account,” Vinokur told me, ”says Moskalev.
Vinokur stole a building in the center of Moscow
How was he going to return? - continues Moskalev. - Very simple. He suddenly changed his mind about making a theater with a permanent stage (he always rented different stages) and decided to sell this building at the market price. He bought it from Moscow at a completely discounted price ($1.8 million), and was going to sell it for $10 million. That was the market price (no less) for this building. In fact, he stole a building in the center of Moscow.
In short, in November 2011, the first $10 million for the film Matilda came to the Vinokur Foundation, and already in January 2012 he fully repaid his personal loan with the money of Matilda. Six months after that, he announced that I stole that $1.8 million! At the same time, other debts were hung on me. ”
In 2012, Moskalev was withdrawn from the project. On November 1, 2012, the Investigation Department of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for Moscow opened a criminal case on the theft of 117 million rubles from the Vinokur Foundation, however, against an unidentified person. However, in fact, the investigation is underway against Moskalev: in 2013, Russian law enforcement agencies put him on the wanted list through Interpol on charges of “abuse of authority,” but Canada refused to extradite him.
According to Moskalev, "money laundering for cinema is a traditional practice." However, reasonable limits were exceeded on the Kshesinskaya film project.
“I took them out of Vinokur’s office on Slavyanskaya Square in a blue bag”
“Of this money, an advance was also given to Alexei Uchitel - three million for his company Rock and a million dollars in cash. He carried them out of Vinokur's office on Slavyanskaya Square in a blue bag in front of my eyes. I don't know why he needed cash, but of course it's convenient. However, instead of starting to shoot, he rejected one scenario after another and filmed a project with Channel One. As a result, the Vladimir Vinokur Foundation made a pre-trial claim against Alexei Uchitel. We wanted to remove the Teacher from the project, both Kozhin and Vinokur agreed. Vinokur has access to Putin himself, it would seem, much higher, there will be no problems.
But I did not take into account that the Teacher, it turns out, was making a movie about Valery Gergiev at that moment and became close to him. And Gergiev is closer to Putin than even Roldugin. Putin, for example, sent Gergiev to Great Britain to put in a good word before the Queen. In front of my eyes, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin was at the reception to Gergiev. Gergiev accepted it around five in the morning, because he likes to work until seven in the morning ... In general, the Teacher complained to Gergiev that I would transfer the project to the Americans.
And without going into details, Gergiev called Putin or simply threatened that he would call. Then Kozhin already said: “I take back my words, return the Teacher. The Americans are taking over the project, and you know how much Putin hates the Americans.” Vinokur immediately took it under his visor, and I was squeezed out of the project.
Director Alexei Uchitel and Governor of St. Petersburg Georgy Poltavchenko on the set of Matilda
When asked why Kozhin manages Gazprombank's money so easily, Moskalev answers as follows:
“The decision to transfer money was made by Kozhin personally. And he personally gave the command for the transfer, since it was he who disposed of this offshore. How much money can be on this offshore if Kozhin easily gives a command to transfer $20 million, knowing full well that this money may never return? I think at least $2-3 billion. It is my deep conviction that this Cyprus offshore is one of the many offshores where the money of Putin and his inner circle (including Kozhin) is located, and there are hundreds of them in total. Each of Putin's closest friends (I think there are about 20 of them, and Roldugin is the smallest frontman among them) has his own quota in the common fund, which they can dispose of at their discretion. I am sure that all Gazprombank's offshore companies are part of the common fund, and Gazprombank's money is the main, although not the only part of the common fund.
Several sources previously involved in business dealings with Vladimir Putin's inner circle have confirmed that this overall asset control scheme is generally correct, although they have shied away from estimating the total amount of funds in this kind of offshore.
As previously reported by the Ruspres agency, the president's relatives also financed the production of the film Viy. In particular, money for the painting was given by a business partner of Roman Putin, the son of President Igor Putin's cousin.
Meanwhile, on the notorious website Change.org, there is a petition to ban the film "Matilda" and bring its creators to criminal liability due to the fact that in it "the role of Tsar Nicholas II was played by Lars Eidinger, a German actor who performed a pornography in 2012 role in Peter Greenaway's film. Interestingly, Gergiev also asked for it, or someone else?
Prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Theater, Honored Artist of Russia Svetlana Lunkina fears for herself and her family if she returns to Russia. The artist, who has been in Canada for about six months, told Izvestia about this, explaining that she was faced with blackmail, threats and hacking of her personal Internet space.
The origins of this intricate story lead to a film about Matilda Kshesinskaya, on the project of which Lunkina's husband, producer Vladislav Moskalev worked together. ["Moscow News": for almost two decades he has been working on the Stars of the 21st Century project (high-class ballet concerts held in Canada, in the States, in France, and since 2010 in Russia) - approx. K.ru], and the famous comedian, head of the Parody Theater and the foundation of his own name in support of culture and art, Vladimir Vinokur. Last year, serious differences of opinion arose between the partners, which escalated into a conflict.
Alexey Uchitel, who was invited to direct the film, turned down several scripts - first by Andrey Gelasimov, then by Paul Schroeder. Then Mr. Moskalev offered to replace Alexei Uchitel with another director, but met resistance from his partner. According to Moskalev, Vladimir Vinokur was ready to sacrifice the international distribution of the picture, but keep the Teacher (the latter confirmed to Izvestia that plans to make a film about Kshesinskaya were “still in force”).
Soon, Lunkina's husband was withdrawn from the project. In September, the lawyers of the Vinokur Foundation presented him with financial claims for $3.7 million, which Mr. Moskalev categorically rejected and continues to reject now.
The deputy director of the Vinokur Foundation, Mikhail Sheinin, delivered a written ultimatum to Vladislav Moskalev (available to Izvestia): if the money is not sent within two days, the foundation will launch an information attack. Copies of the fund's statements of claim will be sent not only to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Prosecutor General's Office, but also to the largest theaters in the world: the Bolshoi, the Mariinsky, the American Ballet Theatre, the Paris Ballet, the Canadian Opera and others.
Vinokur's lawyers turned to State Duma deputy Pyotr Romanov, who sent official appeals to the Prosecutor General and the Minister of Internal Affairs of Russia (Izvestia has at its disposal). Svetlana Lunkina is not mentioned in these letters. A slightly different text was sent to the theaters, indicating that Moskalev in Canada legalized part of the stolen funds “with the help of his wife.”
The press secretary of the Bolshoi Theater Ekaterina Novikova confirmed to Izvestia the receipt of such a letter sent from an anonymous address.
When asked by Izvestia about the connection between Moskalev's financial activities and musical theaters, Mikhail Sheinin replied:
- We have no claims against Lunkina. As for the letters sent to the theatres, I don't know what they are talking about.
Vladimir Vinokur himself is aware of the letters to the theaters: the connection between Vladislav Moskalev and the professional activities of Svetlana Lunkina, according to him, is “very simple”, but Mr. Vinokur could not explain it to Izvestia, saying literally the following:
- No one sent her (Svetlana Lunkina. - Izvestia) to Canada, no one threatened her. But the fact is that she left and does not return, saying that she is being threatened.
On November 1, 2012, the Investigation Department of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for Moscow opened a criminal case on embezzlement of funds from the Vinokur Foundation, while the name of the attacker was not named.
The document on the initiation of the case, in particular, read (the punctuation of the original source was retained): “in a place not established by the investigation, an unidentified person, acting out of mercenary motives, in order to embezzle funds on an especially large scale, illegally through the Bank-Client remote banking system” organized the transfer of funds from the settlement account of the V. Vinokur Foundation in support of culture and art.
Svetlana Lunkina is convinced that if she returns to Moscow, her family will face provocations and a possible arrest. According to the ballerina, she wrote to the Bolshoi Theater asking for support. In the theater, her letters are commented differently.
“Svetlana Lunkina turned to the management with a request to release her from work for the season, since she should be in Canada,” Ekaterina Novikova told Izvestia. - This request was granted. We don't know legally why she's not coming back. If this is related to the activities of her husband, I do not see how the theater can affect this. Anna Pavlova also left Russia because of her husband's activities.
- The theater cannot guarantee Svetlana's safety - this is obvious. The theater simply does not have such resources, - the press secretary concluded.
[Izvestiya.Ru, 01/28/2013, "Svetlana Lunkina:" I want to compete for the Bolshoi Theater ": The ballerina told the Izvestia correspondent who called her in Canada that she was forcing her to interrupt her brilliant career. [...]
- The press secretary of the Bolshoi Theater confirmed to me that such a letter did indeed come. In Canada, a similar letter was read by John Neumeier. Did you convey your version of events to him?
We have mutual friends who told him everything. He knows our version, he is shocked and thinks it's terrible.
- Did you turn to the Bolshoi Theater for help?
- First, I wrote to the address of the Bolshoi Theater, which is listed on the official website. She told me about all the provocations against me, about the hacking of my Facebook page. The second letter I already wrote directly to my artistic director Sergei Filin. I also sent him an application for an extension of leave. I asked for his support - I did not know who else to turn to. But he didn't answer me. And in the theater they said: “A lot of letters come to us - both bad and good. This does not mean that every letter must be responded to.” - Inset K.ru]
Lunkina herself explains the inaction of the Bolshoi for other reasons.
- I really wanted to return and still want to, but recently I found out that my artistic director does not want this. Sergei Filin said to the troupe artists: "Lunkina will not return here anymore." I was told about this by friends who work in the theater, who write to me, sympathize, support me, - says the ballerina.
Vladislav Moskalev believes that Sergei Filin's reaction was due to his contacts with Vladimir Vinokur: since the fall of 2012, Filin has been the director of the famous Kremlin Gala project owned by the Vinokur Foundation (the head of the fund confirmed to Izvestia the fact of cooperation with Filin).
Sergei Filin was unavailable for comment on Monday - he underwent a third eye operation after being subjected to a chemical attack. The press secretary of the Bolshoi Theater said that the artistic director always spoke highly of Lunkina as a ballerina.
“Sergei treated Svetlana with great respect and love and insisted on her participation in performances,” added Ekaterina Novikova.
Vladimir Vinokur said that the investigation against Moskalev continues. Lawyers for Moskalev and Lunkina, in turn, are preparing documents for filing a lawsuit about blackmail and threats from the Vinokur Foundation. The ballerina told Izvestia that she wants to "compete for the Bolshoi Theater" before thinking about a career with other ballet companies in the world.
Yaroslav Timofeev
Moskalev: “Do you want to be a Hollywood producer?
Interview with Svetlana Lunkina and her husband
Svetlana Lunkina
Hello! The leadership of the forum can always call the ballerina and make sure that everything that is written here she and her husband Vladislav Moskalev really said and are ready to repeat[Mikhail Alexandrovich/Moderator, 01/27/2013: I received evidence of the authenticity of the interview, so I return it to its place. - Inset K.ru]
- Vladislav, why did Svetlana disappear from the Bolshoi?
- Sveta is not in Moscow, because I am not in Moscow. And I'm not in Moscow, because if I arrive, they will immediately arrest me, I am convinced of this. If she comes alone, there will surely be some kind of provocation against her in order to force me to return.
"Why should you be arrested?" What are you accused of?
“I'm not the accused, and I'm not even a witness. But our family is being haunted by my former partner Vladimir Vinokur. He claims that I stole $3.7 million from his foundation - which I couldn't do, if only because I didn't have signatory rights. And now people from his foundation are calling my friends, I am getting threats on the phone, letters insulting Svetlana have been sent to the largest theaters in the world, and our mail and Facebook have been hacked.
— But how did it all start?
- from the film "Matilda Kshesinskaya". This project, a Russian-American co-production, we came up with with my friend Oleg Fraev in the spring of 2011. We already had one project - "Kremlin Gala", we were going to be producers of "Kshesinskaya" together - but Oleg died suddenly. I have not had a company in Russia for ten years (I still live in two countries) and I suggested to Vinokur that these projects - both the film and the gala concert - be transferred to his foundation. At that time it was called the "Parody Theater Support Fund", and at my suggestion it was renamed into the "Culture and Art Support Fund". I became chairman of the board of trustees.
Ten years ago, I already had the experience of filming films in English in St. Petersburg, and this film (“Petersburg-Cannes Express”) was released in America. Oleg Fraev knew that I was making a movie and said - maybe we'll try to make another movie, about Matilda? I hired a screenwriter - my friend Andrey Gelasimov (we've been friends since the days when he was still a nobody - and now he is the best-selling Russian writer in America) - and he wrote four drafts of the script. It turned out interesting, the idea was liked by serious people and they decided to finance it. The first money - 20 million out of the promised forty - came in December 2011, when Oleg was no longer there, to the account of the Vinokur fund.
The film was supposed to be filmed right now but it is not being filmed yet. I suggested Aleksey Uchitel as a director (we knew each other from the Big Hat tennis club, both of them were there) and this suited everyone, including the financing party. True, as soon as an advance payment was transferred to the account of the Teacher's company, the Teacher immediately ceased to like Gelasimov's script and he ran to shoot his film "The Eight", which he is still editing. I realized that I made a mistake by inviting him to this project. Moreover, I later talked with specialists from the cinema fund and they told me that the surname Uchitel and international distribution are incompatible. And I wanted to sell this movie to the whole world, so that the film about Kshesinskaya, shot in Russia and about Russia, could be seen in cinemas around the world. I agreed with American producers, and if the director with whom we signed a contract did not like the script, I ordered another Paul Schroeder - this is the one who wrote the scripts for Taxi Driver, The Last Temptation of Christ, in general, a living classic. And he wrote script number two - but the Teacher did not like it either, because the Teacher had not edited his "Eight" yet. Here Vinokur and I decided to expel the Teacher (the normal decision of the producers) - but the Teacher did not begin to be expelled. He found protection in the face of a serious person who called the right offices - and from there they explained that the Teacher should not be touched, and the Americans were off with the project, because the Americans are bad people in principle (and I am not exaggerating, but quoting).
I came from Canada and did not recognize Vinokur - it was a different person. I say what's going on? They explain to me that the Teacher cannot be touched. I - it must be kicked out, because it does not fit into the concept of the project, and the concept of the Kshesinskaya project was entirely aimed at international distribution. They didn’t just shoot a movie and no one saw it - they spent the money, but people didn’t go to the cinemas. And I really wanted the film to be sold. And the Cinema Fund strongly supported this idea of mine. I know this, I talked with specialists from the cinema fund, including on this topic. Because the film fund was going to partially finance this picture. a small amount, but I was going to. And I say - no, we will sell the film, because I have a direct relationship with this film. And they say to me - Slava, and who are you in the fund at all? I say - the producer of this film. The fact that I am a producer, Vinokur a producer and two more American producers - the whole world knew about it, May-June-July 2012 - thousands of links on the Internet - Paul Schroeder is writing a script for a Russian project! We had a plan to sell the film even before shooting . This is the highest professionalism, the highest aerobatics - to sell the film before it has been shot. I did it. So I returned to Moscow in early August and Vinokur and his two friends (his former concert directors) say - we will not sell the film.
Why? Because not a single Russian film has ever been sold. I say - so you need to try, there is both a desire and confidence that it will work out now. And the whole world will see high-quality Russian cinema and people will go to the cinemas of America, Canada, Australia, Europe and will pay for tickets and watch real Russian cinema. No - what does no mean? This is my project and the plan we are following is my plan. The film must be sold. And in order to sell, you need to hire actors - at least two, maybe even three Hollywood stars. Pay them serious fees. And you need to hire a director from Hollywood - because Hollywood actors will go under the director from Hollywood. Otherwise, they will not go - those that are on the poster will attract viewers. Pure PR, which is used by the film companies of the world, is this approach: the director and two or three actors who give the box office the first week, and then the quality of the film gives the box office additionally or not. A list of 15 directors was proposed, among which were Francis Coppola and Sofia Coppola and so on. At the same time, the project would remain Russian, because there are special calculations when the project is Russian and when it is not Russian. According to my plan, more than 10-15 percent of Americans from the total number of people participating in the project should not have been involved. The film had to be shot in English, otherwise it would not be sold.
And then Vinokur says — Slava, we will not sell. I say - wait a minute, our whole concept of the project is based on what we are obliged to sell. We said to the financial organization that has already transferred 20 million dollars that we will return the money to them. And how do we return without selling? "Ah, not a single movie was sold." I say - do you want to be a Hollywood producer? I don't want to, says Vinokur, although I wanted to do it yesterday. Let's make money in production. I say: wait a second, “make money on production” is called stealing. No, we won't, we'll sell. Then they tell me - thank you, goodbye, get out of the project. And here I said that I would not leave the project just like that, to which they answered me - then expect trouble.
And I began to get trouble literally a week later by phone, there were threats as well. Therefore, after the summer, Sveta and the children remained in Canada, and I urgently left Russia. After that, I found out that Vinokur was accusing me of stealing. At first they told me that I stole one and a half million dollars, then, literally a day later, the amount increased to 3.7. They wrote about it in a letter. And they don’t explain how I stole it, but I didn’t sign anything. The investigator does not mention my last name in those documents that I read - apparently, the investigator is not a fool. The situation is this - I cannot return to Moscow, otherwise they will put me in jail. I am absolutely convinced of this. Not because there is something against me - there is nothing against me. They tried to start a criminal case on the fact of embezzlement in the Vinokur fund. I read the material - the investigator wrote the following phrase: an unidentified person, using the bank-client system, stole 3.7 million US dollars from the account of the Vinokur Foundation. And they're trying to pin it on me. If I return to Moscow - I am 200 percent sure, 300, 500 - there will be a provocation in a second. A bag of drugs, some other things - and in two days I will be in jail. Just.
Svetlana wrote an application at the theater for a vacation at her own expense, and they somehow found out about it. And then they began to write to her in letters that they would send information to all the main theaters of the world, that Moskalev stole 3.7 million and fled to Canada with Lunkina. And they really began to send these letters - they came to the National Ballet of Canada, apparently in Japan. You asked why Sveta cannot return to Moscow - because it is physically dangerous for her. Because they will provoke a situation related to the fact that I drove there, - Vinokur needs to somehow close the loss of 3.7 million. He no longer has 20 million for shooting (or 40, if the second half was listed) - but somewhat less. He took them himself, but he cannot admit it, although he signed all the documents. That's why he's chasing Sveta - because he needs me. He doesn't need her. Therefore, they opened my mail and the luminary, opened through Moscow and through Ukraine, and very persistently for two weeks pushed through both ballet blogs and close friends two articles posted in some online publications about a certain house in Canada. That there Moskalev deceived some woman who has five children ...
“But you can’t prove that it was his people who hacked into the mail and ordered the article. You can always say that burglars are some kind of hooligans and that's it ...
There are no such coincidences. Why does it all happen on the same day? Hack mail. On the same day and the next day, a powerful attack via the Internet begins - pushing through these articles here. Everyone received letters - ballet critics, and my friends in the Foreign Ministry. Yes, I can't prove it, but what proof can there be? “I, the hacker Pupkin, hacked the mail, and I was paid fifteen hundred rubles for it, because it doesn’t cost more”?. Moreover, on the same day we learn that the National Ballet of Canada has a letter against Lunkina. On the same day, Vinokur's people begin to call very serious people (deputy minister level) at the Foreign Ministry and tell how bad Moskalev is and how bad Lunkina is. The person is called five times in two days. What could be the coincidences?
But what is the story with the house in Canada?
Oleg Fraev first came to Canada about six months before his death and he really liked it here. He came, looked at how we live (we have a house here for a long time) and said: Slava, I want a house not far from you. I picked up an object worth a million and a half dollars for him. He didn't have any money at the time, but there is such a system in Canada that the bank finances the purchase of real estate for 3 percent per annum if a person puts 35 percent of the money up front. The bank agreed to give a loan to Oleg at 3 percent per annum - a million dollars. And he gave me a power of attorney, I signed the documents that Oleg Fraev would buy a house. Oleg could not come, I arrived and closed the deal, I registered the house in his name, but I still had to pay 560 thousand dollars. And Oleg did not have this money, and the deal had to be closed, there was literally a week left. As a result, he asked me for a loan - and I gave him. They were transferred from my account from a Moscow bank - I have documents that the money has been lying there for a long time, for several years. There in this document - an interbank transfer that cannot be faked - it is indicated that I am paying Oleg Fraev to buy real estate. Why not give? A year ago, I also gave him a large amount - he returned it to me. In any case, we signed an agreement with him that if he does not return, then I will take the house. As soon as it became known that he had died (just arrived from work, drank a glass of water and fell), I went to the woman with whom he lived (she was not his wife) to warn that the house in Moscow in which she lived and five of her children, has already been pledged twice to a Russian bank. And I know this banker and I know that he will not leave them alone and will evict them from this house. I knew about this pledge before, but Oleg asked me not to tell anyone. I warned them that the house was mortgaged and that they should prepare to properly conduct a policy of negotiations with the bank that gave the loan secured. I am a banker myself and I know that if you negotiate correctly, you can get out without much loss. And I warned them that they would have to negotiate and prepare for them.
Children: Fraev's son Damir, Moskalev's son Maxim and Fraev's son Oleg. Vladislav Moskalev and Svetlana Lunkina
Svetlana Lunkina
[...]Did you see the letters that were sent out to the theatres?
The Vinokur Foundation themselves sent us a letter, which they sent to all the theaters, as they said. Why they sent it to the National Ballet of Canada, where I don't work at all - it's just that my friends helped me to be like a class - is unknown.
What exactly do these people want from you?
It seems to me that I was hit just because I just support my husband. Since they cannot influence my husband in any other way, they are simply trying to ruin our lives. Because they know that he is very worried about me, he cares about everything that concerns me. To hurt him and know for sure that it will disturb and hurt him.
What needs to happen for things to change for the better?
It seems to me that this can no longer be done. Vinokur will not go for it.
The humorist Vinokur's firm is suspected of involvement in the theft in one of the State Unitary Enterprises
Vladimir Vinokur
The police, at the request of city officials, opened a criminal case on the fact of embezzlement of more than 200 million rubles in the state unitary enterprise "Moscow Industrial and Trade Center for Integration and Development" (owned by the city government). Suspicious transactions with the state-owned enterprise were made, among other things, by the company, one of the main owners of which at that time was the famous actor and humorist Vladimir Vinokur.During the audit in 2011, the MPTCIR revealed the facts of "flagrant transactions of the former management of the enterprise," RIA Novosti reports citing a law enforcement source.
As follows from the documents, from 2008 to 2010 the company entered into various contracts for the supply of products. However, real deliveries under these contracts, most likely, were not made. Moreover, some agreements generally assumed the supply of an absurd number of goods or nomenclature.
After the initiation of a criminal case, the Moscow property department quickly launched the bankruptcy proceedings of the enterprise (various structures of the capital's government are the largest creditors of the enterprise, in total the State Unitary Enterprise owes them almost a billion rubles), a source in the mayor's office told RIA Novosti.
One episode of the signing of dubious agreements took place on October 26, 2010. We are talking about contracts with LLC Trading House Vinokur and Co. According to an extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities dated December 6, 2011, at the time of issuing the document, 44% of the company's shares belonged to Vladimir Vinokur (a well-known humorist), and 51% to Anna Ilyina, the wife of the late MPTCID General Director Oleg Fraev.
One of the contracts dated October 26, 2010 (that is, at the time when Vinokur was a co-owner of the trading house) provided for the supply to the State Unitary Enterprise of "Neitronik personal protective equipment for mobile phones, as well as computer monitors and TVs" for a total amount of 336 million rubles. In total, under the contract, the trading house was supposed to supply almost 1.5 million neutrons. However, no neutronics were seen at the enterprise.
The humorist himself confirmed to RIA Novosti that he owned a stake in the company, but said that he had left the founders more than a year ago. When asked if he was aware of the operational activities of the company, Vinokur replied: “I have no idea about this house. I haven't participated in a year."
When asked about the financial fraud that could have taken place in the trading house, the humorist said: “What will I comment on if they are not there at all, even close, I don’t even know what you are talking about.”
“By the way, the Neutronic is almost a mythical device. As stated on the sites on the Internet that sell it, this device helps protect users of mobile phones and computers from electromagnetic radiation. It is curious that mainly dubious sites sell devices, there are no popular chain stores among them, ”RIA Novosti notes.
["Samarskoye obozrenie", 02/08/2010, "Vladimir Vinokur: "Agriculture needs Viagra": Vladimir Vinokur answered [...] questions in an interview with SO. [...]
- I'll tell you right away I'm not a businessman. Oleg Fraev, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Trade House Vinokur and Co LLC, is responsible for my business projects. [...]
The company was established in 2005 and was engaged in food distribution. I was prompted to go into business by a conversation with Vladimir Dovgan. Once he told me: “I spent millions on creating a name, and you already have it. Why not use it for business? ". Then we created TD Vinokur and Co. Different manufacturers of the company supplied different groups of goods - from stewed meat to vodka, and the trading house already sold these products, providing it with the slogan: "Distiller for their own." At first, everything was fine, the products found a buyer, manufacturers increased volumes and expanded sales markets. However, after a couple of months, we faced a problem that is probably common to all umbrella brands.
We suddenly discovered that the goods supplied to us are of a completely different quality - bad. Vodka became bad, in a can of stew we found minced meat instead of pieces of meat, and pork skin could have been caught in beef stew. Realizing that we would not be able to control the quality of the products we received, we got scared. After all, as soon as at least one person was poisoned, for example, with canned fish under the Vinokur brand, the same Komsomolskaya Pravda would immediately publish a newspaper with the cover of Vinokur poisons people. And that's it. The brand is broken. [...]
Faced with the dishonesty of manufacturers, we suspended our activities. At the moment, only vodka from the Arkhangelsk Vodka Plant is produced under this brand. This manufacturer aroused our confidence, there were no complaints about the quality so far. Let me give you another example of how corrupted the market for branded products is. I negotiated to produce charcoal under my own name. And even before I made any decision, I was informed that coal under my brand was already being sold with might and main. - Inset K.ru]
